Railway-car brake



Nov. 24, 1925.

Fio. 1.

H. W. SANFORD RAILWAY CAR BRAKE Filed July 18, 1921 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Nov. 24, 1925. 1,562,794

HQW. SANFORD A RAILWAY CAR BRAKE Filed July 18, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 24, 1925.

HUGH W. SANFORD, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE.

RAILWAY-CAR BRAKE.

Application filed July 18, 1921.

To all whom it may cancer no Be it known that I, HUGH VJ, SANFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Knoxville, in the county of Knox and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and usefullniprovement in Railway-Car Brakes,-of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying draw ing.

My improvement relates particularly to brakes for mine ears and similar small cars.

The object of the invention isto simplify and reduce cost and at the same time produce" an effective brake structure.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a part of a mine car embodying my improvement;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same car;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line, 3 3, of Fig. 2, looking toward the right;

Fig. 4t is a horizontal section on the line, H, of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an upright section on the line, 55, of Fig. 1, looking toward the left.

Referring to said drawings, A is the car body, and B B are the car wheels. 0 is a brake strap which is long enough to be applied to both of two wheels, B, at the same side of the car. The ends, C of said straps are bent obliquely upward. and secured to the brackets, G which are applied to the side of the car at the left of the left hand wheel and at the right of the right hand wheel. For securing said ends, a bolt, C, extends through each end, C and the adjacent bracket and also through a shim or filling washer, C placed between the bracket and the end of the strap. Any number of such washers may be introduced at either end of the strap for adjusting the strap to the adjacent wheel. The face of the bracket to which the end, 0 of the strap is applied may be regarded as the outer side or face of the bracket, because it is directed outward away from the middle transverse upright plane of the car. Being thus applied, the

pull of the strap is toward said outer face.

And it is to be observed that while said outer face is oblique, it is also transverse to the general course of the strap and the length of the car and to the horizontal plane of the car. Nearly midway between the two wheels at the right hand end of the car are placed bearings, D, each formed of a U-bolt, D and an outer plate, D and an inner plate, D, the outer plate being at the outer Serial No. 485,541.

face of the car body and the inner plate being at the inner faceof said body and the Ubolt extending horizontally through said plates and said wall, theendsof the U bolt beingat the inner side ofsaid wall. 011 the outer face of said wall and resting in said U -bolt bearings is a r0Gk-shaft, E. The leftv hand end of said shaft reaches into an upright plane midway between the two wheels and is'bent to form a crank, E extending horizontally away from the car body and into the eye, 3 ,01? an upright stem, The lower end of said stein extends through. a nut, G a plate, G placedbetween said not and the brake strap and through the strap and through two nuts, G, placed below the strap.

Turning the rock-shaft so as to move the crank, E downward will cause downward pressure upon the stem, G. That pressure is transmitted to the brake strap, C, through the plate, G Thus the brake strap is forced downward on both wheels, B, B, the brackets, C holding the ends of the strap inimovably.

The engagement of the crank, E in the eye, G of the stem, G, is sufficiently loose to allow some movement of the lower part of the stem in the plane of the two wheels, whereby automatic adjustment is made for equalizing pressure of the strap on the two wheels. Further non-automatic adjustment of the strap relative to the wheels is to be made, when needed, by the insertion or removal of washers, D between either bracket and the adjacent end of the strap, as above described. The brackets are set obliquely as shown by the drawings, in order that the face of the strap may be better engaged by the bracket, and in order that the direction of the strap may be at substantially right angles to the parts of the strap approaching the brackets, whereby the adjustment of the strap by the insertion of washers, as described, is made feasible.

This simple structure, constitutes an economical and effective application of the strap to two wheels with ample adjustment for equalized pressure of the strap upon the two wheels.

The rock-shaft, E, will now be further described, together with means for actuating and controlling said shaft.

From the right hand bearing, D, the rock shaft, E, extends horizontally toward the right beyond theend of the car body. There it is bent horizontally across the end of the car body and parallel to the latter to form a long arm, E Near its end, said arm is flattened to form a blade, E having a lower outward-directed edge, E". An approximately upright rack bar, having teeth, E extends across the arm, E and is secured to the end of the car body by bolts, E The edge, E of the blade, E is adapted to engage the teeth, E, and prevent downwardmovement of the arm, E

The crank, E and the arm, E are at opposite sides of the axial line of the shaft, E. Hence when the arm, E is raised the crank, E is moved downward, whereby the stem, G, is forced downward, and thereby the plate, G and the brake strap are'forced "downward. Thus the brake strap is put under tension and made to bear actively upon the wheels, B, B. lVhen the brake is to be set, the arm, E is raised manually and drawn against the teeth, E", of the rack bar, E so as to make engagement between the edge, E, and one of said teeth when the arm reaches its upper limit. Thus the arm will be locked, and thereby the engagement of the brake strap is maintained. This engagement is intensified through the flexibility of the shaft, E, and the arm, E the shaft and said arm being together of sufficient length to allow appreciable flexing, although a short section of the shaft or arm would be practically inflexible.

lVhile provision is thus made for effective ly applying the brake strap and holding it when applied, provision is also made for automatically holding the brake strap outof engagement when application is not desired. This is accomplished by placing the weight of. the relatively long arm, E in 0pposition to the crank, E and the parts supported by said crank. When the arm, E has been released from the teeth of the rack bar, E said arm, by the action of gravity assumes it lowest position and by its dow11-- ward movement lifts the relatively shortcrank, E and all the parts supported thereby, whereby the brake strap is held out of action.

To prevent the rock shaft, E, from mov ing leftward in the U-bolt bearings and avoiding engagement with the rack bar, E, the left hand edge of the left hand U-bolt bearing plate, D is bent upward, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to bear against the left hand face of the crank, 3 and form an abutment for the left hand side of the crank, while the right hand side of the crank bears against the adjacent U-bolt, whereby the U-bolt forms an abutment to prevent rightward movement of the rock shaft.

It is now to be observed that a minimum amount of mechanism and simple movements are involved in the effective application of the brake. To apply brake mechanisin to two wheels, one being located at one side and the other at the other side of the car, as has heretofore been done, requires mechanism that is more complex and more expensive to construct. In this connection, it is to be observed that in cars of this class, the body of the car usually extends downward close to the track and precludes use of the type of brake construction used in arger railway cars having bodies high above the tracks.

It is also to be observed that this structure may be produced with a limited amount of labor. No castings are needed, and no forging is needed excepting to form the rack bar and the blade, 1 on the arm, E The rest of the wor: is merely cutting and punching and bending. The U-bolts are easily formed. All the nuts are ordinary stock nuts. The brackets, G are formed of ordinary stock metal. It is also to be observed that the application of the various parts to the car is easily accomplished.

I claim as my invention,

1. The combination with the car body and a wheel at one side of the car, of a horizontal rock shaft arranged parallel to and supported at one side of the car'bo'dy and having a crank, a transverse bracket on the car body, a bolt, a brake strap attached to the outer face of said bracket by said bolt and placed in operative relation with said crank to adapt said strap to be pressed into engagement with said wheel when said rock shaft is turned to move said crank downward, an arm on said shaft at the side of the latter opposite the crank, whereby the weight of said arm will lift said crank and the brake means when said arm is free, and means for engaging and holding said arm when said shaft has been turned to make said engagement, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the car body and a wheel at one side of the car, of a horizontal rock shaft arranged parallel to and support-- ed at one side of the car body and having a crank, an oblique bracket on the car body, a bolt, a brake strap attached to said bracket by said bolt and placed in operative relation with said crank to adapt saidvstrap to be pressed into engagement with said wheel when said rock shaft is turned to move said crank downward, an arm on said shaft at the side of the latter opposite the crank, whereby the weight of said arm will lift said crank and the brake means when said arm is free, and means for engaging and holding said arm when said shaft has been turned to make said engagement, substantially as de scribed.

3. The combination with a car body and two wheels at one side of the car, of a horizontal rock shaft arranged parallel to and supported at one side of the car body and having a crank, two oblique brackets on the car body, a bolt at each bracket, a brake strap having its ends attached to said brackets by said bolts and the strap being placed in operative relation with said crank to adapt said strap to be pressed into engagement with said two Wheels when said rock shaft is turned to move said crank downward, an arm on said shaftat the side opposite the crank, whereby the Weight of said arm will lift said crank and the brake means When said arm is free and means for engaging and holding said arm when said shaft has been turned to make said engagement, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, this 16th day of July, in the year one thousand nine hundred andtwenty-one.

HUGH W. SANFORD. 

